On 20 November, Michelin’s Shanghai factory held a groundbreaking ceremony for its expansion project. Michelin plans to increase the production capacity of high-performance, high-value radial passenger tyres at the Shanghai plant while also achieving efficient, clean and flexible production.
Recently, Wanli Tire stated that to meet market demand, it plans to carry out a third phase expansion project in the vacant land reserved by its Guangzhou factory. According to the plan, the construction of the expansion project will be divided into two phases, adding a production capacity of 12 million semi-steel radial tyres.
moveero runs two manufacturing plants in Europe and four in the US, backed by “market-leading plants at Armstrong and Estherville in Iowa and at Wichita, as well as a Research, Development and Testing Center at Woodridge”. Around 18 months ago, the company went through a period of “quite dramatic and rapid change”. Along with a new business name, moveero also introduced a new mission and vision, all of which marked the start of a new chapter in its evolution. Now, work is underway on a new, fully automated weld cell at the company’s Estherville wheel plant, as a result of which, the company will double its production capacity of large wheels, up to 50” diameter for the agriculture sector.
In May, fast-growing industrial tyre business CL Tyres bought Manchester-based Fork Truck Tyres. Since then, the business has continued to grow. With the company continuing to expand at a rate of knots, Tyres & Accessories got in touch with director Steven Pye in order to find out how the integration is going and what’s happening next.
Recently, Jiangsu General announced that it will invest 1.884 billion yuan (approximately £210 million; €240 million) to launch the second phase of the Chinese tyremaker’s Thailand factory. The expansion will add 500,000 all-steel radial tyres and 6 million semi-steel radial tyres to the Thailand production base. It is worth noting that the tyre manufacturer only disclosed that the project’s construction period is 24 months but did not announce the planned start and end time.
SGL Carbon and Brembo have agreed to expand production capacities for their Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic Brakes (BSCCB) joint venture. After months working on the details, the two companies have confirmed that BSCCB will invest around €150 million between now and 2027 to expand production capacity at sites in Meitingen (Germany) and Stezzano (Italy) by more than 70 per cent.
BA Bush & Son Ltd has recruited Terry Moody as its new UK sales executive. The company said it is expanding and enhancing its existing sales team and coverage of the UK. Moody has a wealth of experience in both sales and the tyre industry and has previously worked in the OTR tyre sector. BA Bush says Moody will work with new and potential customers to communicate the company’s extensive brand catalogue, including exclusive off-road brand Ascenso Tyres. He will be accountable for growth with new customers as well as maintaining existing customer relationships, meeting customer needs and requirements.
Linglong Tire has launched a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Linglong N.A. Sales, based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Geoff Doster became president of the new company effective 7 August 2023. The establishment of Linglong N.A. Sales follows the news that Linglong is considering investing in production facilities in “the Americas”.
On the afternoon of 17 August, Yu Aihua, Party Secretary of Hefei City, Anhui Province, held talks with Christian Kötz, Head of the Continental Tyres division. Tyrepress China learned that Yu and Kötz talked about “accelerating the construction of the fourth phase of the (Hefei factory) project” and planning the follow-up “automotive electronics, R&D centre project”.
Roughly a year ago, then relatively-newly appointed Yokohama Europe president Gregorio Borgo, told us that the company has plans to invest in a factory “at the heart of Europe”. 12 months on, Tyres & Accessories once again spoke with Gregorio Borgo as well as Yokohama Europe chairman Hiroyuki Shiori in order to find out how the company’s growth and its interconnected factory plans have been progressing.
Recently, Hankook stated that it would carry out technical transformation on the TBR production line of the Chongqing factory. Specifically, the tyre manufacturer plans to invest 47 million yuan (about £5.1 million; €5.9 million) to increase the daily production capacity of TBR from 2,560 to 2,960 (annual production capacity from 900,000 to 1.036 million) within 16 months. Hankook says the project will not add new land and will be built in its existing factory workshop.
18 years after MG Rover collapsed and was bought by SAIC (Shanghai Industry Automotive Corporation) and 7 years after the carmaker moved MG production to China in 2016, SAIC is planning to build a new car factory in Europe. The location has not yet been finalised and details of which brands will be made there are scant, but as the European car parc transitions to electric vehicles, it appears that the production history of the MG Rover is going full circle.
The Double Coin Jiangsu factory recently applied to the local environmental protection department to expand its OTR tyre production capacity. The Jiangsu factory is a joint venture established in January 2024. The company can produce 2.9 million all-steel radial (truck) tyres and 74,000 OTR tyres annually.
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PublicDomainPictures; Pixabay
Brembo
BA Bush & Son
Oohsnap; Pixabay
Continental
Chris Anthony/Tyre Industry Publications Ltd
Hankook